KeyBank staff volunteers at St. Louis Center

Photo by Joe Yekulis. Brenda Tubbs and Nathan Betz work on the landscape of St. Louis Center.

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Joe Yekulis for the information and photos in this story.)

On Wednesday May 15, four staff members from KeyBank – Chelsea visited St. Louis Center to lend a hand through the bank’s “Neighbors Make a Difference Day.”

According to a KeyBank press release “Neighbors Make the Difference Day was launched in 1991, with a group of KeyBank employees in Alaska who volunteered for service projects. By 1993, KeyBank extended the concept to many of the communities it served, making it an official day of employee volunteerism. Now, Neighbors Make the Difference Day is a hallmark program and a leading corporate volunteerism effort in America, showcasing KeyBank’s commitment to communities.”

Local participants from KeyBank – Chelsea included Branch Manager Thomas Mikula, Brenda Tubbs, Patrick Collins and Nathan Betz. The group spent four hours at the center raking dead leaves and debris from around the flower beds outside the main building, and filling in the flower beds with fresh mulch.

According to Mikula, “It’s all about giving something back to the community. I have a 16-year-old daughter with autism, and working at a place like St. Louis Center in very meaningful to me. This is an important part of our community outreach.”

Finance Director Amy Fielder of St. Louis Center added, “We really appreciate it when volunteers come out to help us to beautify our grounds, because we don’t always have enough time or help to do it ourselves. We’re primarily focused on caring for our residents.”

St. Louis Center is a residential community for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities located west of Chelsea. For more information about SLC, please visit www.stlouiscenter.org.